1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
The stasis in this piece is difficult to determine since this play does not exactly have a single fluid story, but rather multiple perspectives. The stasis would most likely be that a young black boy, Gavin Cato, has been killed in an accident by a car driven in the local Rabbi's fleet. In protest, a group of black youth kill a Jewish man by the name of Yankel Rosenbaum. Riots continued for days following the deaths, and the playwright has interviews several people affected by the incidents to share their perspectives.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
The intrusion in this play does not really exist because the play does not have a single fluid plot. The intrusion would most likely be when Gavin Cato is killed, but this happens before the play's beginning, so it is difficult to determine it as the intrusion.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
These are the days following the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum and the riots that followed.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will those who killed Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum receive justice? If so, how? If not, why?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The main conflict occurs in the riots over the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum. The black community feels that Gavin's death was more of an attack than an accident, and many were particularly upset that the Jewish ambulance and police were the ones at the scene. The black community felt that the Jewish population was much too powerful in Crown Heights, and the death of Gavin Cato pushed them to riot. The Jewish community felt attacked when rioters murdered Yankel Rosenbaum, and they also began rioting.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror. The most theatrical moment occurs in the final monologue of Gavin's father. We finally see a personal and emotional perspective of the happenings in Crown Heights. Gavin's father briefly touches on how his son did not receive justice because the Jews control every position in Crown Heights. The most important aspect of this monologue is for the audience to see Gavin's father's grief, and the play suddenly isn't about the conflicts between the blacks and Jews. In this moment, the audience is allowed to simply grieve with the father.
The stasis in this piece is difficult to determine since this play does not exactly have a single fluid story, but rather multiple perspectives. The stasis would most likely be that a young black boy, Gavin Cato, has been killed in an accident by a car driven in the local Rabbi's fleet. In protest, a group of black youth kill a Jewish man by the name of Yankel Rosenbaum. Riots continued for days following the deaths, and the playwright has interviews several people affected by the incidents to share their perspectives.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
The intrusion in this play does not really exist because the play does not have a single fluid plot. The intrusion would most likely be when Gavin Cato is killed, but this happens before the play's beginning, so it is difficult to determine it as the intrusion.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
These are the days following the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum and the riots that followed.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will those who killed Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum receive justice? If so, how? If not, why?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The main conflict occurs in the riots over the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum. The black community feels that Gavin's death was more of an attack than an accident, and many were particularly upset that the Jewish ambulance and police were the ones at the scene. The black community felt that the Jewish population was much too powerful in Crown Heights, and the death of Gavin Cato pushed them to riot. The Jewish community felt attacked when rioters murdered Yankel Rosenbaum, and they also began rioting.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
The most theatrical moment occurs in the final monologue of Gavin's father. We finally see a personal and emotional perspective of the happenings in Crown Heights. Gavin's father briefly touches on how his son did not receive justice because the Jews control every position in Crown Heights. The most important aspect of this monologue is for the audience to see Gavin's father's grief, and the play suddenly isn't about the conflicts between the blacks and Jews. In this moment, the audience is allowed to simply grieve with the father.